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With the industry recovering nicely from a challenging period, this year's NATPE conference in Miami saw lots of content buying and selling and a double-digit percentage boost in attendance. "A lot more deals got done than people expected. We want people to look back and say, 'NATPE is where that deal happened or where the next great idea was sparked,' " said Jordan Levin, NATPE board chairman.

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The NFL has appointed veteran TV executive Jordan Levin as its first chief content officer. Levin will take the lead on all non-game content as well as manage the Super Bowl halftime show. "We have a deep bench of sports producers," said Brian Rolapp, executive vice president of media for the NFL. "We're trying to supplement that with people who can think broader about content."

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday on gun violence largely focused on whether current laws were sufficient. Witnesses included former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, a victim of gun violence, and NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre. The issue of violence in video games was mentioned by LaPierre and others but was largely a secondary issue.

Branded content on television and the Internet, including product placement, Web-specific programming and product marketing using video games, will grow at an annual rate of more than 17% for the next two years, according to Jordan Levin, chief executive of Generate and former head of The WB network. "Advertisers are seeking higher audience engagement with more customized and targeted content than can be delivered through traditional ad units," Levin said at a media conference.

Phil Boyce, the talk-radio programming pioneer who helped build the national market for popular hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, is leaving WABC-AM in New York, where he has worked for 14 years.

Ratings indicate that the CBS Sportsline webcast of the 2006 NCAA tournament pulled in more than twice as many online viewers as the network promised advertisers. Sponsors of the free webcasts appear more than pleased with the turnout, with Pontiac, for one, reporting "at least a 10% to 15%" spike in traffic to its Web site.